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Luxury-apartment builder plans 300-unit complex near Coddingtown Mall

SANTA ROSA – A San Diego-based luxury apartment developer, Fairfield Residential LLC, is planning to build more than 300 units on 14 acres near Coddingtown Mall in Santa Rosa.

The project would include 17 three-story apartment buildings, a 6,600- square-foot clubhouse, nearly 600 parking spaces and more than two acres of public parkland, according to tentative plans submitted to the city’s Design Review Board.

Fairfield has built apartment projects throughout California and the U.S., including the 216-unit Lodge at Napa Junction, part of a new mixed-use development anchored by Wal-Mart in American Canyon. The company also acquires and manages apartments built by others, including the 287-unit Maribelle complex in Santa Rosa and the 136-unit Wyndover complex in Novato.

Fairfield’s new Santa Rosa site is a mostly-vacant piece of land at 1020 and 1060 Jennings Ave. across the street from a proposed commuter rail station and a few blocks from Coddingtown Mall and a new Whole Foods grocery store currently under construction. Fairfield Vice President Brendan Hayes said his company has long held an interest in the site.

“It’s something that we’ve looked at in the past, and it finally became available for sale,” Mr. Hayes said. “It certainly seems that there is a need for more multifamily housing in that market.”

The Jennings Avenue neighborhood has seen an influx of new apartments, but the projects have been concentrated at the affordable end of the market. The nonprofit Burbank Housing is building the second of two projects with a total of 162 units, Bridge Housing recently finished a 70-unit project and Urban Housing communities recently opened a 48-unit complex, all less than a half-mile from the Fairfield site.

Mr. Hayes said Fairfield sees room in the market for higher-end apartments because the site is close to major employment centers.

“Jobs are absolutely an important factor,” Mr. Hayes said. “This site is very central and makes sense.”

Other major investments in the neighborhood, such as a planned $85 million renovation of Coddingtown, will help to support the new apartments, Mr. Hayes said.

“The redevelopment at Coddingtown, the chance of that happening, would be a huge boost to that entire part of the city,” he said.

Fairfield’s current plan for 310 apartments is a scaled-down version of an earlier proposal for 450 units on 20 acres, including more than 100 condominiums. The company withdrew that proposal in December because of the downturn in for-sale housing but will likely pursue a second project in the future, according to Mr. Hayes.

The shift from condos to apartments reflects a trend among local developers, according to Curt Nichols, a vice president with the Santa Rosa engineering and design firm Carlile Macy, which is a consultant to Fairfield on the new project.

“We’re actually seeing some interest in projects that received entitlements for townhomes and condos … to do them as apartments at a higher density,” Mr. Nichols said.

Last week, Santa Rosa’s city council approved Fairfield’s request to rezone about 20 acres of land for multifamily development, including 14 acres for the apartment project and six acres formerly slated for condos. The smaller condo site will likely remain vacant in the short term as Fairfield pursues entitlements for the apartments, according to Mr. Hayes.